


life on mars.

by astrid_indigo



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 16-Year-Old Harry Styles, 16-Year-Old Louis Tomlinson, Alternate Universe - 1980s, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Bottom Louis, Eventual Smut, Homophobia, Kinda?, M/M, Mean Harry, Protective Harry, Queer Themes, Slurs, also, band kid harry, frenemies to lovers, is that a thing?, louis and harry are roommates, quiet louis, theatre kid Louis, well now it is lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:13:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25628041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astrid_indigo/pseuds/astrid_indigo
Summary: Harry's parents send him to an all boys' boarding school; Richmond after bad behaviour at his previous school. He meets his Louis; a shy yet sarcastic theatre nerd with sparkly deep blue eyes. Harry wants to break down the walls that Louis has built, and know more about the intriguing boy that is Louis Tomlinson.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Kudos: 7





	life on mars.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the beginning of it all. kinda boring, but it’s context for future chapters !

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW// slight homophobia, slurs.

_Autumn, 1985._

_Tick._

_Tick._

_Tick._

God, Harry wanted to punch that clock into the wall.

Look, Harry didn't plan this. Harry didn't plan to get into a fight with another school pupil.. for the third time in two months. Harry didn't plan to be sitting outside the principal's office in the waiting room, waiting for his parents to arrive. Harry sat sloppily in his chair, arms crossed, eyes stuck staring at the plain blue carpet, with a brand-new bright red mark on his left cheekbone. He knew he was fucked, there was no way he was getting away with it this time.To be honest, Harry didn’t know how he ended up in the same place again, it kind of just happened, like the other two times. He remembers how the word _faggot_ rang in his ears as he threw punches. He felt angry, frustrated, but more than anything, he felt like crying. Harry was so lost in thought the sound of a door slamming shook him back to reality. The sound of a pair of heels clicked and echoed down the quiet, empty hall, until it stopped in front of him. Harry slowly looked up, a pair of black high heels matched with a black pencil skirt, stood his Mother, shoulder pads and all. 

“ _Harry_.” She sighed angrily. 

Yeah. He was _so_ fucked. 

\---

“Honestly Harry, where has this come from?” They were in the car waiting at a red light. The meeting with the principal had only lasted a little over 30 minutes but it had felt like forever to Harry. “Where is the good little boy that I raised?” The light turned green. “I can’t just drop everything and come to your school so I can pick up my son because he felt like having a scrap that day.” It was times like this that Harry wished he had his Walkman. “It has to change, you need to change.” She sounded disappointed, Harry hated disappointing people.

“I’ll change, Mum. Just give me one more chance-”

“No, Harry.” _Shit._ Now what?

“I’ve had to call your father, and you know how I don’t like talking to him.” The car went silent, all you could hear was small puddles on the road as the car drove through them. Harry felt sick to his stomach. “Your father and I have decided that we will be sending you to Richmond.” The car pulled into the driveway of the house. Harry instantly turned his head, facing his mother. “ _What?_ ” She unbuckled her seatbelt and faced away from Harry as her hand moved to the handle on the car door. “We will speak about this later.” The car door opened as fast as she shut it. 

Harry stayed in the car a little longer, well actually, _a lot_ longer. He had so much to process. He was actually going to Richmond, _a boarding school_. There was no going back from this. The decision was final. These were the consequences for his actions. 

\--- 

Harry quickly ran out of the car and ran up to the steps to the door of his house. He hastily opened the door. Harry tried his best to avoid his mother as he jogged up the stairs.He walked past his sister’s room and he finally got to his room. He slammed his bedroom door so hard the whole house must have heard it. He dropped his bag and let himself fall face-first into his bed. His left hand inched closer to his bedside table. His finger felt the flat, square surface of his Walkman, thank _God_. Harry needed to drown out his thoughts, he needed to drown out the world. 

\---

_2 days later._

The Smiths played through his headphones as Harry laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. His eyelids were half open, ready to fully close and fall into slumber. He hadn’t left the house in 2 days, he had spent the weekend only in his room. He knew he was grounded, he didn’t need to ask. He only had until Tuesday to pack his things, and say goodbye to his friends. 

There was a knock at his door. Harry pulled his headphones down to his neck. His sister, Gemma, poked her head out of the slightly opened doorway. “Harry,” she tucked her hair behind her ear “You’re leaving in 2 days, maybe you should talk to Lori?” Harry gulped, how was he supposed to break the news to Lori? He had known her pretty much his whole life, she was the first person Harry came out too, she’d always been there for him. And know, he was leaving her, for who knows how long. “Listen, I know you’re all bummed out about this ‘Boarding School’ shit but, she deserves an explanation.” Gemma was right, God, Harry hated that she was right. “Also, maybe you should open your curtains.. And maybe a window too.” Harry rolled his eyes as he got up from his bed and headed downstairs to the family’s phone. 

He dialed Lori’s number with shaky fingers, the phone rang 5 times.

“Hello, Brownley residence-”

“Lori.”

“ _Harry?_ ” Lori’s robot tone turned soft.

“Hi.”

“ _What the fuck did you do this time? You weren’t at our table at lunch, and Craig came to third period with a limp and scattered with bruises_.” 

Harry sighed. “I got into a fight, _obviously_.”

“ _Yeah, no shit, dumbass_.” Harry wanted to laugh, but the conversation was far from humoress. 

“He called me, _the word_ .” There was silence. “You know, _that one_.”

“ _Oh Harry, I’m sorry._ ”

“Actually, Lori, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“ _I’m listening_.”

“My parents are sending me to Richmond,” Harry’s breathing went shaky. “And there’s n-nothing I can do about it.”

“ _Fuck, are you serious? Harry, I don’t know what to say._ ” Harry didn’t either.

“I leave on Tuesday morning.”

“ _And you’re only telling me now?!_ ” 

“I know, I’m horrible.”

“ _Listen, I have to go, but, I’ll come over to your house tomorrow with Christian, and we’ll help you pack, because knowing you, you haven’t done that yet._ ” 

Harry laughed, it felt like he hadn’t done that in a while.

“Yeah, that would be great, actually.”

“ _Cool, see you soon, Harold._ ”

“Bye.”

The line cut off.

\---

_Monday_

Harry woke up at exactly 7 am to the joyest sound of his alarm clock, that was something he _wasn’t_ going to miss. Today was his last day of freedom, he was leaving early in the morning tomorrow. He didn’t feel like spending his last day at school, there was really no point. The past few days all Harry could think about was his life was going to change, for better or worse. All he knew about Richmond was that it was very posh, full of mostly rich boys who loved spending their parents’ money. It was a high-end school full of over achievers, well, that’s what he’d been told by his peers. And now Harry was going to go to school with them, great. Harry got up to have shower, he was going to make the most out of it, he didn’t know if he would be able to have one long hot showers at Richmond, he was guessing probably _never_. 

  
  


\---

After his shower, he got dressed and started to pack his suitcase. He would rather spend the rest of the day he had with Lori and Christian hanging out than having them make fun of him for packing his tacky button up shirts. Harry really wanted to pack all his wardrobe but he would be wearing a uniform most of the time so it didn’t really matter. He grabbed a few shirts and some pairs of jeans. He went to the sock drawer, he looked out his window while he picked up some pairs of socks, and that’s when he felt something cylinder shaped, he turned his head and looked down, a bottle of lube. _I mean, it wouldn’t hurt,_ Harry thought. He quickly hid the bottle in his suitcase, no one needed to know. 

  
  


“Wow Harry, you packed your suitcase by yourself? _Incredible job_.” Christian said sarcastically while putting his hands on the sides of his face.

“Shut up, Chris. You can’t even tie your own shoelaces.” Harry playfully pushed Christian’s shoulder. 

After school had finished, Lori and Christian came over to Harry’s house to hang out, which was pretty much just the three of them talking while listening to music from Lori’s radio. There wasn’t much they could do anyways, Harry was still grounded after all. Harry couldn’t imagine a life without them, and now he was going to have to make new friends, at an all boys’ school. Harry didn’t really get along with other boys that much, besides from a few expectations like; Christian and Michael, an acquaintance of his. Long-story-short, Harry didn’t get along with most boys because he’s gay, and most of the boys he knows _aren’t_ , simple. All they saw was that Harry was gay, with the assumption that Harry liked them. Harry didn’t like that at all.

\---

_Tuesday_

  
  


The sound of the car boot closing sent shivers down Harry’s spine. It was early in the morning, it was finally happening. “Promise me you’ll write to me, whenever you can, okay?” Obviously Richmond would have a phone to use, but Lori insisted that they wrote letters to each other instead, and according to Lori, ‘ _the excitement of opening a letter that’s addressed to you, Harry, is unmatched!_ ’ or whatever that meant. Harry hugged her tight, and then turned to Christian. “I mean you could write to me, but I can’t really read that well, my eyes hurt after a bit.” Christian smirked. “You’re such a _dumbass._ ” Harry shook his head, he was going to miss Christian’s stupidness. 

“Harry, sweetie, we’re leaving.” 

“So this is it, I guess.” Harry sighed.

“Yeah.” Lori sniffled. 

“Lori, if you cry, I’ll _never_ live it down.” Harry said, trying to lighten the mood.

Lori wiped a tear away while smiling. “Whatever, _dork_.”

All 3 of them hugged, this was goodbye, for now.

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m working on chapter 2 xx idk when it will be out but it’s on its way <3 also be nice this my first fic !! :(


End file.
